Out-Of-School Children In Osun State?

By Inwalomhe Donald

Osun has the highest number of out-of-school students in south-west in 2023, says commissioner for Education, Eluwole Adedipo. The commissioner describes the development as problematic to the government. Adedipo disclosed this during the defence of his ministry’s proposed budget for 2024 before the Joint Committee on Finance and Appropriation of the Osun House of Assembly.

The issue is not out-school children scourge. The commissioner is wrong. The commissioner wanted to deceive members of Osun State House of Assembly. Out-of-School scourge is elementary education crisis and not middle-level education crisis. Elementary schools were multiplied and not reduced. Ditto for Middle schools. Meals were equally served in our elementary schools which attracted students.

Real consolidation of education infrastructure was at the Senior Secondary Schools level where the crisis was not prevalent. The commissioner for education could not tell the Osun State House of Assembly how to address problems in elementary school system, rather he was lamenting about the mega schools. Out -of- school children has nothing to do with mega schools but elementary schools.

The mega schools in Osun State can accommodate almost half of the out- of- school children in Osun if the present Osun State government decides to move elementary students to mega schools built by Rauf Aregbesola. Aregbesola used elementary schools to eliminate out- of- school children in Osun.

If anything at all, students were withdrawn from private schools to public schools all over the state during the time of Aregbesola as governor of Osun State. School buses were provided all over the state for the movement of students.

To belie his claim, our successor canceled all the programs we instituted and returned students to their old schools after about eight years of a smooth and successful basic and post -basic education programme that we instituted.

This is what this regime inherited. It is strange that the abandoned but effective system is still the whipping slab of this administration. What a shame.Besides the efficient system that was put in place, Aregbesola equally engaged a CSO (EduMarshals) to monitor and ensure that all school age children were in school.

This was in addition to the Education Quality Assurance Agency that was emplaced for effective coordination and management of education at basic and post-basic levels. The rest as they say is history.

Inwalomhe Donald wrote via [email protected]

• The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not represent the opinions or views of OSUN DEFENDER.